


Hide and Seek

by RJMeta



Series: AWH-verse [6]
Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: (i promise there's fluff incoming for him it's just being a bitch to write), Gen, Grooves and Conductor have known each other for A Fuckin Long Time and it shows, Hide and Seek, Moonjumper's a dick, Stolen Identity, i continue not giving Conductor a break
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:48:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27473032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RJMeta/pseuds/RJMeta
Summary: "The moment he stepped into the studio, he knew something was wrong."
Relationships: DJ Grooves & Hat Kid (A Hat in Time), The Conductor & DJ Grooves (A Hat in Time), The Conductor & Hat Kid (A Hat in Time)
Series: AWH-verse [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1968832
Comments: 5
Kudos: 50





	1. Enemy

**Author's Note:**

> chapter song: [Enemy by Mystery Skulls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC3nsYGGEYw)
> 
> so that new mystery skulls animation, huh? also lmao writing machine goes brrr apparently, in 9 days i've already achieved my nano-quarter goal of 12.5k words, so i'm bumping my goal to 20k instead.

The moment he stepped into the studio, he knew something was wrong.

It was quiet on his side of the studio - to be expected, he’d only just arrived - but there wasn’t even the echo of an explosion from the other side of the studio either. And given that the Conductor had warned him that they’d be filming the big explosion scene for his latest film today? That sent a chill running down his spine that puffed his feathers out nervously.

The other Moon Penguins seemed to pick up on his unease, though judging by their looks of confusion, they hadn’t realised the source.

“You alright boss?”

Glancing at them behind his sunglasses, he shot them a smile and waved a flipper.

“Quite alright, darling. You lovelies keep setting up, I just need to go have a quick word with our darling Conductor, okay?”

He set off without a word, worry gnawing at him. He couldn’t place _why_ he felt so concerned; all he knew was that it was too quiet. Crossing to the other side of the studio was child’s play, though he couldn’t suppress a shiver at the complete lack of anyone around. Upon reaching the far side of the studio and still not seeing anyone, he felt something was terribly wrong.

“Alright now, Grooves, take a breath - maybe he’s just late? Yeah! That’s probably it! I’ll bet that if I swing back to the entrance, I’ll catch him as he arrives.”

He quickly headed off, making it back to the entrance in record time. Sure enough, as he opened the door to the lobby, the Conductor and Hat Kid were walking in through the double doors. Relief washed over him as he walked over, a grin forming on his beak.

“Darlings! I was beginning to wonder where you were! It’s not like you to be late, you old workaholic.”

Hat Kid smiled, waving. The Conductor folded his arms, looking grumpy. The action drew his eye to the necktie around the other bird’s neck and he hid a flinch at the sudden color change.

“Didnae realise that ye were me boss all of a sudden, DJ Grooves.”

The alien nudged the owl, grinning.

“Da-ad, be nice! Sorry, Grooves, there was a hold up on the rails this morning, took us a bit to sort out.”

He took a breath, carefully maintaining his grin. He vividly remembered asking during one of their rooftop talks why the Conductor had switched from red neckties to purple ones, getting a gruff _“red was me daughter’s favorite color,”_ in response. The change back could be a good sign - maybe he was finally moving on? But something in the back of his mind was screaming at him that this was wrong.

“No harm done, darling, I’m well used to our dear Connie’s grump by now. What I’m not used to is the sudden change in fashion - your necktie is a different color than usual, darling! What prompted the change?”

The Conductor gestured with his head towards Hat Kid.

“It’s her favorite color, so Ah thought Ah’d give it a shot.”

Hat Kid shot her dad a confused look and immediately his heart skipped a beat.

“My favorite color is yellow, dad.”

His instincts were screaming at him now. Quickly, he threw his microphone, knocking the other bird back against the wall before looping the wire around a shocked Hat Kid and pulling her behind him, swinging the mic like a chain.

“Now I don’t know who you are, _darling_ , but you’re _certainly not_ the Conductor! Who are you and what have you done with him?”

Hat Kid started to protest but was cut off by a decidedly un-Conductor-like giggle from the other bird as he stood back up, head tilted with a vicious grin.

**“Well, aren’t you just a clever one? What gave me away? I definitely heard you think that red’s his daughter’s favorite color.”**

He huffed, eyes narrowing behind his glasses.

“It is - his _late_ daughter.”

The “Conductor” giggled again.

**“Damn, caught on such a tiny detail. Hee hee hee, he really wasn’t kidding when he said you’d figure it out! And here I took you for a moron!”**

Hat Kid moved out from behind him, umbrella clenched in a white-knuckled grip.

“What did you do with my dad?! Who even _are_ you?!”

The impostor took off his hat, tossing it to the side as black pixels washed over him. Gone was the form of the Conductor, replaced by a hovering figure in a long red coat and yellow shirt, lower half descending into pixelated effects before vanishing entirely. Chains hung from gray wrists, three fingered hands clapping amusedly as a smirk stretched across a wide face, large eye sockets filled with red designs fixing on the pair of them.

**“I am Moonjumper! That dastardly Snatcher ran me out of Subcon some few years ago, separating me from my dear horizon! But, I figure, until I can find a way back, why not have some fun? Hee hee hee, and what fun this will be!”**

With a flick of his wrist and another wave of black pixels, a wooden puppet appeared in front of him as strings stretched out from his fingers to the arms and head of it. Grooves sucked in a breath, not missing the close resemblance to the Conductor. With a wave of his fingers, Moonjumper made the puppet dance, eliciting a growl from Hat Kid.

**“I tell you what - let’s pull a Snatcher and make a deal, yes? I’ll give you two your precious Conductor back... if you play a game with me!”**

Grooves narrowed his eyes, suspicion mixing with his anger.

“What’s the game and what’s the catch?”

Moonjumper’s free hand pressed against his chest as he looked as aghast as one can when they still have a wide smirk across their face.

**“Well, aren’t you just a rude little penguin! It’s only a simple game of hide and seek! You two hide somewhere in this studio, and I have ten minutes to find you! Sound fair?”**

Hat Kid scoffed.

“Ten minutes to find two people? I think not!”

The Subconite tossed his head, the designs in his eye sockets appearing to roll.

**“To find them? Oh, no, no! I have to _catch_ you too! So if you _do_ get seen, you still have a chance!”**

Grooves huffed, folding his flippers.

“You never said what the catch was.”

Moonjumper’s smirk grew wider.

**“I’m not the only one looking.”**

With a twitch of his fingers, the puppet became real - wood turning to fabric, feathers, flesh. The Conductor heaved a gasp, doubling over slightly before the strings went taught and he was yanked upright. Grooves quickly grabbed Hat Kid before she could run forward, her arms outstretched.

“Dad!”

“Lassie!”

**“Hee hee hee! You have thirty seconds to run, kids and Moon Penguins!”**

Mentally swearing, Grooves picked up Hat Kid and took off, bursting through the door to his side of the studio as fast as he could. Hat Kid was clawing and kicking, trying to get back to the lobby, but he stubbornly held tighter.

“Darling, listen to me! The best way to help your dad is to play Moonjumper’s game, and to do that, we need to run.”

She continued struggling for a moment longer, then went limp, nodding silently. He put her back down and took off his shades, rubbing the bridge of his beak.

“I don’t know whether it’s better for us to split up or stay together, honestly…”

Hat Kid hummed, worrying at her lip.

“Staying together gives us more chances to help each other, but splitting up evens the chance that at least one of us survives the full ten minutes…”

Intimately aware of the ticking clock, Grooves pressed his flippers together.

“Let’s stick together for now, agreed?”

Hat Kid nodded, opening her mouth to say something, but froze as a loud SLAM rang through the studio.

**“TIME’S UP, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WE’RE COMING FOR YOU!”**


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter song: [Hellbent by Mystery Skulls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X79sXBYYgIQ)
> 
> lmao this took so long, it really didn't want to end. plus i got the mental image of grooves saying "try me bitch" and i had to try and fit it in. moonjumper's such a dick in this chapter too, advanced warning
> 
> edit: i'm going to murder ao3's text editor. you fuck up _one_ closing tag and suddenly every damn paragraph begins and ends with six thousand open italics close italics or open bold close bold tags. ugh. glad i caught that before i hit post lmao

Exchanging a panicked glance, they both dove into cover, squeezing themselves under a set piece in Grooves’ side of the studio. He leaned over slightly, murmuring quietly into her ear.

“If we can get to his side, we can take the elevator down and lose them in the basements.”

Hat Kid nibbled at her lip again, looking worried.

“But the elevator’s loud and a bottleneck, we could get caught trying to get down.”

“True, but there’s more space to hide down there - more space to run too, should we need to. Conductor’s had you practising your free-running, right?”

She nodded before they both froze, hearing footsteps echoing closer.

**“Come out, come out, wherever you are! It’ll make this sooo much easier if you just give in!”**

“They’ll be down in th’ basement.”

Grooves’ eyes widened as he realised that the Conductor’s was pitched to carry around the space. Quickly, he flapped a flipper to get Hat Kid’s attention and feather-spelled a quick message, repeating it a couple times before she nodded.

**“Oh? And why do you say that?”**

“ _Because_ , ye peck neck, it’s th’ only sane place tae hide here - and Ah just heard th’ elevator leave.”

Moonjumper giggled, the sound edged with something that sent a shiver down his spine.

**“Well then, my dear _Connie_ , lead the way!”**

Neither alien nor Moon Penguin moved, listening as those footsteps moved away and then another minute besides. Carefully, they both exhaled, exchanging a glance.

“Your dad is smart.”

“Yeah.”

There was silence for an awkward moment, then Grooves sighed.

“You know, I never apologised for doing what I did the first time you came here.”

He felt more than saw the glance she shot him, busy as he was avoiding looking at her.

“It’s in the past now, no use worrying about it.”

“Perhaps, but I would still like to apologise. You… your enthusiasm was so… fresh. You were genuinely excited and happy to help out, and I used that against you. I built up your trust then pulled the rug out from under you and left you to fall. I shouldn’t have done that - I shouldn’t have been so cruel.

“The telling-off your father gave me really put some things in perspective, for me and for him. It’s because of you that we now have as good a relationship as we do. So, I’m sorry. And thank you, darling.”

When he finally had the courage to take a glance at her, he realised she was beaming at him, looking proud.

“Apology accepted. And thank _you_ , Grooves - you’ve done a lot to help me, too.”

They shared a smile.

**“Aw, isn’t that just _adorable_!”**

They froze, faces falling. Springing into action, they both shot out from under the set piece, narrowly dodging the red puppet strings that swiped for them. Moonjumper’s eerie giggle echoed through the space as he spun, casting them both gleeful looks in turn.

**“Such a heartwarming moment! You know, I knew your dear Connie was throwing the game, but I didn’t realise it was to let you both make amends! Oh, I feel bad for interrupting now!”**

Grooves’ eyes cast about the space, heart sinking as he failed to see the Conductor anywhere. Catching Hat Kid’s gaze, he twitched his head, gesturing for her to run. Her eyes widened and she quickly shook her head, looking worried.

**“You know, ladies and gentlemen, I’m feeling ignored! And that’s rather RUDE!”**

They both dove again as more strings lashed out at them, moving far faster than the first set. Some of the stage lights were snapped off and hurled in their direction, missing them by a scant few inches. Grooves clenched his beak. He needed to get Hat Kid out of here - the Conductor would have his head if she got hurt.

“What’s _rude_ is you destroying my studio! I haven’t gone into your house and wrecked the place, have I? Why on earth would you do that to me?”

He smirked internally, the taunt working just as he had planned. Moonjumper’s head snapped around to face him, his body following after - completely ignoring Hat Kid, who shot Grooves a look but took the chance and legged it.

**“Hee hee hee, haven’t you heard? Down in Subcon, breaking other people’s stuff is just part of the fun! Why do you think there’s so many frozen Subconites down there? Vanessa’s wicked streak is a mile long!”**

Resolving to unpack that later, he fisted his flippers like he was upset, mind quickly calculating the angles he would need.

“Well, you’re in my world now, not your world! And over here, we have rules about this kind of thing!”

Moonjumper smirked, strings rising threateningly.

**“Oh? And what are those?”**

He grinned.

“Keep your eyes open!”

Throwing his microphone again, he felt it catch exactly where he wanted it to and pulled hard. A loud creak precluded a SNAP, Moonjumper turning just in time to receive a lighting truss to the face. Grooves jumped, using the momentum to swing around and fling himself across the studio onto the Conductor’s side, rolling in a way he’d seen the other director do in so many of his movies to soften the blow before stumbling back up to his feet and making a run for it.

_Ha! Couldn’t do it, my left shoe! Conductor, you owe me ten pons!_

But a quick glance as his watch left his heart sinking. They still had to evade the puppeteer for another five minutes. Even worse, he had no idea where Hat Kid had gone. Taking a deep breath, he growled out a word he tried to avoid.

“Peck!”

* * *

Hat Kid dove into the elevator, frantically mashing the button until the doors slid closed with a pleasant chime. Only then did she stumble back and slide down the far wall, breathing heavily.

_I didn’t even hear him approach! And dad wasn’t there either..._

Shaking her head, she quickly slapped her cheeks, psyching herself up.

_Come on, Hattie! Break down later, when you’ve gotten your dad back! You just have to run for… uh… oh no._

She gulped, realising she had no idea how long was left on the clock. The elevator shuddered, slowing to a stop as the doors opened again. Stepping out, she caught sight of a familiar silhouette and smiled.

“Dad! Come on, we can hide from Moonjumper together!”

But he didn’t respond. Her smile slowly dropped, replaced by a gnawing concern as she stepped closer.

“Dad?”

It was then that she noticed he was shaking, one hand slowly reaching into his jacket.

“Lassie… _run_...”

She paled as he pulled out a knife, now seeing the red strings glinting in the light around his wrists. Immediately, she broke into a run, diving out over the abyss and using her hookshot to swing away. A breeze passed beneath her, a knife embedding itself into the far wall.

“Lass! Get tae th’ lower levels if ye can! Ye can dodge me easier then!”

“How long do we have, dad?!”

“Five minutes!”

_Peck!_

She took his advice, though, free-running until she’d reached the main storage area. With all the training he’d had her do, it was child’s play to climb to a nook not immediately visible to the entrance and hide, using the opportunity to switch to her Sprint Hat. It would be her best shot at getting away from the bird if he found her.

_Just five minutes, dad. Hold on for another five minutes._

* * *

_Damnit, darling, where did you go?_

The elevator ride had been far longer than he wanted, though thankfully he’d timed his arrival just as the car had returned to the top and had managed to duck inside and get it moving before Moonjumper had recovered and caught up. But emerging out into the basement, he’d caught neither hide nor hair of the alien child and couldn’t deny the panic rising in him.

_If something happens to you, neither your dad nor I will ever forgive ourselves. So come on, darling, give me some kind of sign here!_

It was almost like the world was listening. As soon as he’d finished the thought, the SCHNK! of metal into wood caught his attention and he quickly changed direction, eyes widening as he caught sight of the other two. The Conductor was quickly catching up with his daughter, ears firmly pinned to his head as smoke curled off him thicker with every knife thrown. It was clear he was intentionally trying to throw them wide, but red strings around his wrists arrested his movements, each knife coming closer than the last. Dust rose from behind Hat Kid as they sprinted, one hand clutching their Sprint Hat to their head, but it was a fast failing defense. Grooves winced, changing his angle.

“Sorry, Connie!”

Before the two could do much more than look at him, he’d swung in, catching the Conductor full in the chest with a platform shoe’d foot, sending him flying backward through a stack of boxes. The hole blown through the stack destroyed the balance of the ones above, sending them toppling down on the felled director, but Grooves was already swinging back towards Hat Kid to scoop her up.

“Grab hold, darling! I promise, the moment this is over we’ll come back for him, but in the meantime we need to _go_!”

She let him pick her up with little resistance, staring horrified at the pile of wood and debris. Her hands curled tightly into his jacket and he abruptly realised she was trembling, tears threatening to spill out over her cheeks. He held her tighter, mentally cursing the puppeteer’s name.

“We’ll get him back, even if I have to kick that spineless Subconite’s tail myself.”

Silently, she curled into him, burying her face in his shoulder. Judging they were far enough away, he landed and curled his mic cable up, shifting his hold to be a tight hug. They stayed like that for a moment before he pulled away, checking his watch.

“Another two minutes. We’ve got this.”

Hat Kid nodded, tugging her Time Stop Hat further down on her head. Her jaw was clenched, speaking through gritted teeth.

“When this is over, I’m going to beat Moonjumper into the ground like a tent pole.”

He chuckled humorlessly.

“I’ll join you. Come on, we can circle this way to get back to the elevator - I’m pretty sure that Moonjumper is down here by now.”

**“And you’d be right!”**

Once again, the puppeteer came out of nowhere, forcing them to make a quick dodge. Grooves cursed, feeling an utter hatred was over him for the first time in his life. Hat Kid screamed in rage.

“How the peck do you keep finding us?!”

Moonjumper giggled with crazed glee, the patterns in his eyes rolling wildly.

**“Didn’t I tell you? Speak my name and I appear! Hee hee hee, you two really had no idea, huh?”**

Alien child and Moon Penguin exchanged a horrified glance, quickly turning their attention back to the strings slowly corralling them backwards.

**“You see, ladies and gentlemen, I am Moonjumper, Prince of the Subcon Forest! And if I play a game with someone, I. Don’t. Lose. I make sure of that! Hee hee hee hee hee!”**

The puppeteer snapped his fingers and strings lashed out. They both flinched, leaping backwards--

… but the strings didn’t come after them.

They retreated behind the puppeteer, dragging something forward. Grooves felt his heart drop into the floor, eyes widening behind his shades. Beside him, he heard Hat Kid scream again, this one a sound of pure heartbreak.

“ _DAD_!!”

The Conductor stumbled forward, all but dragged by the strings now wrapped around all his limbs. One of his arms was clearly broken, cuts leaking crimson all over his head and hands. His breathing was shallow as he favored his left side and Grooves hissed at the signs of broken ribs. Moonjumper giggled again.

**“Taking in your handiwork, Grooves? I must admit, I didn’t expect you to attack him like that - I thought the two of you were friends! Oh well, time draws close, and I can’t stand here monologuing all day!”**

There was a hissed intake of breath from beside him, then the strings lashed out at them. He squeezed his eyes shut, flinching--

\--and opened them again when he felt a hand clamp around his flipper. He wasn’t stood on boxes like he had been a second ago, instead being on the floor with Hat Kid dragging him behind her.

“Move your feet! My Time Stop Hat takes a while to recharge, but we’ve only got another thirty seconds on the clock!”

Hurriedly he gathered his feet under him, sprinting now himself. Moonjumper’s strings struck out at them as they ran, forcing them to make quick maneuvers to avoid them.

**“ _I’M NOT LOSING THIS_!!”**

Each second felt like an hour, everything seeming to slow down into narrow focus. Strings blocked off the path ahead, their feet skidding on the floor as they tried to quickly reverse direction, only to be blocked off by more strings. They moved to stand back to back, exchanging a quick glance before turning back to the puppeteer, umbrella and mic brandished in hand and flipper. Moonjumper threw a hand out, strings racing down to catch them-- Hat Kid grabbed his flipper and squeezed-- He threw her a smile--

**BRIIIING!! BRIIIING!!**

Everything froze as the timer rang out, signalling the end. He quickly turned to look at Hat Kid, catching her gaze before they both leapt, wall jumping back up to the boxes. Moonjumper stood, frozen, the Conductor grinning widely before yelping as the strings relinquished him and he fell back onto the boxes. Hat Kid dove for her dad, but Grooves strode up to Moonjumper, mic swinging threateningly.

“Now then - I believe we had a deal. We held up our side of the bargain, you’ve held up yours, the deal is complete. _Leave_.”

**“... heh. Heh heh heh. HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE!!!”**

The puppeteer looked up with a crazed grin, madness and fury mixing in his eye sockets.

**“YOU WIN THIS ROUND, PENGUIN. BUT MARK MY WORDS - I’LL BE BACK. AND NEXT TIME, YOU WON’T BE SO LUCKY.”**

He just shot the puppeteer an unamused look.

“Try me, peck neck.”

The puppeteer dissolved into black pixels, his deranged giggle lingering for a moment before echoing away. Shuddering hard, he turned back to Hat Kid and the Conductor.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m glad that’s over! Come on, darlings - let’s get out of here.”

There were resounding agreements from both owl and alien. Standing, the three of them limped together back towards the elevator, alien and Moon Penguin flanking owl.

“Thank ye both…”

“Of course, darling!”

“No worries, dad.”


End file.
